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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28934058">Caged</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost97296/pseuds/Ghost97296'>Ghost97296</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aftermath of Torture, Akerman power, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eldians, Erwin is a selfish asshole, Flashbacks, Levi gets captured, Marley (Shingeki no Kyojin), Post-Season/Series 03, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Season/Series 04, Time Skips, Torture, enemies become friends, friends become enemies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 14:20:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28934058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost97296/pseuds/Ghost97296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I just want… to go to that basement.” Erwin said, his head tilted down to the floor, he wouldn’t even meet Levi’s eyes. “I need to know if I was correct.”</p>
<p>For the first time in his life, Levi saw his Commander, Erwin Smith, as he truly was.</p>
<p>-------------------------</p>
<p>Erwin didn't lead the recruits out to rush the Beast Titan and instead crossed the wall to see what was in the basement. Levi pays the price for his dream.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi &amp; Eren Yeager, Levi &amp; Erwin Smith, Levi &amp; Zeke Yeager, Levi/Hange Zoë</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>“I just want… to go to that basement.” Erwin said, his head tilted down to the floor, he wouldn’t even meet Levi’s eyes. “I need to know if I was correct.”</p>
<p>Levi stared down at his Commander. Sitting there pathetic and helpless, clinging onto his foolish dream. Levi realised now, that this has never been about saving humanity. Never. All those deaths… Isabel… Furlan… Petra… everyone. They had all died for one man’s childish dream. For the first time in his life, Levi saw his Commander, Erwin Smith, as he truly was.</p>
<p>A lump formed in Levi’s throat. He, who had followed Erwin through everything, who was loyal to a fault. Erwin had taken his family and replaced it with the Survey Corps. He had made Erwin his very life. He thought he was doing it for humanity, but no. That was a lie. It was all for Erwin’s dream… to see if he was right.</p>
<p>It disgusted him. This pathetic shell of a man in front of him. The man he would call his closest and most trusted friend. A lier. A traitor. A foolish child. Levi knew there was no reason to be angry about it now. There was nothing to be done.</p>
<p>Levi brought out the serum and held it out for Erwin. The Commander didn’t move to take it, instead he looked hard at Levi.</p>
<p>“You told me that this serum should go with the soldier with the highest chance of survival.” Levi stated firmly. “Given what we’re about to do, I am no longer that soldier. It is more useful in your hands.”</p>
<p>Erwin didn’t want to take it. If he did it meant admitting that he might not ever see his Captain again. But he knew Levi was doing this for him. Giving him a chance to see what’s inside the basement. Even if it disgusted him, this was the only option. With only the slightest hesitation, Erwin relented and accepted the serum from Levi, his emotions locked away in the secure box deep within his cold heart.</p>
<p>Levi turned to look over to the poor helpless recruits cowering by the horses. “What will we do about them?”</p>
<p>Erwin nodded. “They will rush the beast titan, acting as a diversion in order for you to approach the beast titan undetected.”</p>
<p>Levi nodded. He knew, none of them were coming out of this alive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Levi soared through the air, slicing through the titan’s napes as if they were butter. He barely waisted a second as he crossed from one to the next. He dared a glance towards the field. The recruits were there, charging at full force.</p>
<p>Glancing towards the beast, he saw him ready to throw a pitch. The rock dissolving in his hand into deadly shards. His throw was so strong, Levi almost missed it. The ground around the charging recruits shattered, the rocks pulling up the dirt like a plough. Through the wind rushing passed his ears, he could hear the screams.</p>
<p>
  <em>Dedicate your heart.</em>
</p>
<p>That was what he had told them. That’s what Erwin had told them. Did they know now how pointless it all was. That they had been lied to. That there was now more humanity left to save.</p>
<p>The dust had cleared. Levi took another look to the field but…. <em>Where were they?</em> The recruits were supposed to keep rushing the beast titan. To keep up the decoy, but they weren’t there.</p>
<p>
  <em>Damnit!</em>
</p>
<p>Of course that attack would scare them enough. Erwin had left them there alone. They must have realised that they were lied to. With no one to guide them, they must have turned back to hide. They were simply too scared to ride to their deaths. Too human.</p>
<p>Levi scowled. Too late to be concerned about that now. Levi had a job to finish. That damn monkey hadn’t noticed him yet. If he was lucky and very fast, he might just be able to make it before he saw…</p>
<p>The monkey turned, his red eyes snapping and locking onto Levi. <em>Shit!</em> He roared, the remaining titans rushing towards him. Levi sliced through them, but more kept coming. He cut through the closest, only to have a giant monkey hand come out of nowhere.</p>
<p><em>Fuck!</em> Levi manoeuvred out of the way just in time, but beast was prepared with his other hand. He slapped into Levi, knocking the wind out of him. However dazed, Levi managed to slice through the monkey’s wrist. <em>Good.</em> Even prepared, the beast still underestimated Levi’s speed.</p>
<p>Levi rocketed towards the beast’s head, aiming to gouge out the eyes, but the monkey saw this coming too. He whipped his head at the last second, causing Levi to miss one. <em>Shit.</em> What was the use of one eye missing when he could still see out the other.</p>
<p>Levi changed tactics and went down to the legs, he slashed through both ankles and brought the beast down to his knees. Levi jumped up to get a good view of the nape before he would slice thefucking monkey out, but…</p>
<p>It was hardened! The beast had hardened his nape! He must have seen this coming. Damn the recruits and their meaningless diversion!</p>
<p>Levi landed on the crystallised nape, his blade shattering upon impact, sending a shudder up his arm. He couldn’t dwell on this too much, because all at once, the quadruped titan burst out of nowhere. Levi had a split second to jump out of the way hideous mouth opened wide and snapped down hard on his retreating left leg.</p>
<p>Levi let out a gasp of pain, feeling the bones in his leg crack and grind within the titan’s teeth. Then all at once he felt the pressure lighten as the quadruped opened its mouth tossed its head, slapping down its teeth, this time across Levi’s chest and arm, getting a better grip of him.</p>
<p>Levi screamed through clenched teeth as he felt his ribs snap as his arm was crushed to his side. His right arm was still free and his hand was white with effort as he gripped his sword. With all his remaining strength, his stabbed downwards into the quadruped’s jaw. This achieved nothing other than the pressure around his chest and arm to tighten, causing him to cry out in pain</p>
<p>Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as head began to swim and his vision went fuzzy. He was beginning to lose feeling in the rest of his body. His was conscious just long enough to see the beast titan stumbled to its feat, steam billowing from its healing legs. He saw the bleeding red eyes glare down upon him, before darkness overtook him and he saw nothing.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Erwin and Hange deal with the consequences of Levi's capture. Levi wakes in a strange and painful place and is forced to contemplate his failure.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What the hell are we going to do Erwin?” Hange was waving her arms and yelling. “How the fuck could you let this happen?”</p><p>“Hange please, calm down.” Erwin held his hands out imploringly. “We will figure this out.”</p><p>They were standing on the wall, the burning ruin of Shiganshina on one side, and the flattened and bloodied bodies of the recruits on the other. Erwin should have known this was going to happen. Of course the recruits wouldn’t go riding to their deaths. He should have known they would have only followed him. But as the selfish fool he was, he had left to go to the basement and recover those fucking books.</p><p>And now Levi had paid the price.</p><p>Somehow, Erwin had known that he would never see Levi again. That his Captain would eventually die in the line of duty, as so many of their comrades had. That’s why he accepted the serum, because he had known Levi would never get the chance to use it. It was simply luck that had enabled Erwin to arrive on the other side of the wall in time to give the serum to that Armin boy.</p><p>But never had Erwin imagined this. That the enemy would actually plan to capture one of the Akerman. That they wouldn’t just kill Levi as they should have, but take him to whatever hellish world there was across the sea.</p><p>Erwin could only guess what they were doing to him. From what Erwin had read in the books, they could be doing anything.</p><p>“To hell if we can figure this out!” Hange was shouting, near on hysterical now. “We don’t have a single clue of what we’re facing! We’d be doing a rescue mission blind!”</p><p>“We won’t be doing a rescue mission.” Erwin said calmly.</p><p>Hange blinked at him. “What do you mean we won’t?”</p><p>“As you said, we can’t go in blind. We need to do our research. Go in once we have a solid idea of what we’re facing.”</p><p>“That would take months!” Hange screeched. “They could have killed Levi by then!”</p><p>“They won’t do that.” Erwin stated.</p><p>“You can’t possibly know that!”</p><p>“I know for absolute surety that they will do everything in their power to keep Levi alive.” Erwin felt sick saying this, but he locked that feeling down in the box within his heart that was growing colder by the minute.</p><p>Hange paused, her breath caught. “You don’t mean that they… they can’t be…”</p><p>“They took him for a reason. They must want to know more about the Akerman.”</p><p>“But they can’t torture Levi!”</p><p>Erwin swallowed. “I believe they will. But the important thing is that Levi will be alive.”</p><p>“But that’s barbaric!” Hange shrieked.</p><p>“It gives us time.” Erwin insisted. “I promise, six months is all we need. In six months we will save him.”</p><p> </p><p>000</p><p> </p><p>Levi woke in a cage. He was chained down to a chair, metal clamps round his ankles and wrists, there was even one around his neck, cutting into his skin. It was too dark for him to see, he knew he was somewhere underground. He remembered that damp chill of rock and stone well enough.</p><p>He tried turning his head, but immediately felt a stab of pain behind his eyes. Every muscle ached, although he assumed he would have healed by now… if he knew when <em>now</em> was. How long had he been out? He vaguely remembered talking to Erwin. Flying towards the beast titan. The recruits, the diversion.</p><p>Now it came back to him. He had failed.</p><p>No matter what the recruits did, it was <em>his</em> mission to kill the beast titan no matter what. He had failed in that mission. Heat ran to his head in both anger and shame. This was the first time he had failed. The first time he had ever not fulfilled his Commander’s orders. How could he just fail him like that?</p><p>Another feeling rushed through him, this time sharp and cold.</p><p>What happened then? What were the consequences to his failure? Was the beast titan wounded enough to keep him from fighting? Did he go back and kill Erwin? Kill Eren? And what about Hange? Was she even alive after the colossal’s transformation? And the rest of the 104th? They were just kids. Were they all dead now because of his failure? Were they just more bodies to add to the pile of people Levi had failed to save?</p><p>Had they even succeeded in sealing the walls? Was humanity saved? What did Erwin find in that fucking basement?</p><p>Was it all worth it?</p><p>A billion questions screamed in Levi’s head, all fighting for attention. He wanted to scream himself, but his raging headache warned him that it might not be the best idea. He still had no clue where his was. If his position told him anything, it was that he was still in danger. Questions could wait. Right now survival was his top priority.</p><p>Presently he heard a sharp squeal of a rusted door. A burst of bright light flooded his eyes and spiked his head. <em>So much for not making his headache worse.</em> A few seconds ticked by before his was fully able to open his eyes.</p><p>Squinting, he was able to make out a few shapes. A tall man in a grey military uniform stood in front of him, with a strong yet oldish face, he reminded Levi a bit of Pixis, though he doubted this man could replicate Garrison Commander’s sly and sarcastic comments. Next to him stood a short, brown-haired woman in a lab coat and goggles, very Hange-like, but that was where the comparisons to Levi’s best friend ended. Where Hange was full of warm, sometimes insane energy and bright eyed curiosity; this woman was sharp and cold, with very little sense of any empathy or kindness in her dull eyes.</p><p>The military man stepped forward, a look of disgust on his face as he surveyed Levi’s form, before he met his eyes.</p><p>“Levi Akerman.” He said stiffly as if reciting from a page. “I am General Magath, in charge of the Warrior Unit and Paradis Affairs. This is Dr Wren, our leading pioneer in Titan Science. You both will be spending a lot of time together.”</p><p>Levi narrowed his eyes at both of them. <em>What was this?</em></p><p>He opened his mouth to say something, but the General held up his hand, interrupting him.</p><p>“Before we go further, you will do well to know that you are not permitted to speak unless ordered to. You will only know what we tell you and any questions on your part will not be answered, so there is no use in asking them. Understood?”</p><p>The General’s tone did nothing for anger raging in Levi’s skull. He had no intention on just sitting here in the dark, silent and obedient while this General and Doctor treated him as a lab rat. But, then again, what other choice did he have? Obviously resisting them would mean some sort of punishment. But what kind? How far would they go? Levi always thought pain was the best way to get to know a person, eh, maybe this was the best way to get to know them.</p><p>“Why the fuck would I listen to you?” Levi growled, harshly.</p><p>The General was taken aback for a moment at Levi’s blatant ignoring was his warning, but then a look on sympathy appeared on his face, as if he was looking pitifully down at a puppy that had chewed through his shoe and now needed to be trained.</p><p>He held up a small rectangular device in his hand, his thumb pressing down on the button. At once and spike of hot pain stabbed into Levi’s neck. It felt like streaks of fire spreading through his body. His vision went white for a moment as the feeling of a knife twisting behind is eyes became stronger. His throat clenched and he forgot how to breath. The pain was more than anything he had ever experienced.</p><p>The pain was gone almost as soon as it came, leaving him limp and wheezing as he frantically sucked in air. As his blurred vision started to come back into focus, he shakily lifted his head to see the amused face of General Bastard full of pity looking down on him.</p><p><em>So they were that sort of people</em>. Levi mused, his darkened eyes full of malice.</p><p>The General smiled when he saw the realisation in Levi’s expression. “I imagine it must be confusing for you. As we’ve come to understand it, you devils on Paradis are stuck one hundred years in the past, so let me enlighten you.”</p><p>He held up the demonic little device again. “This here, is a handheld remote. What does it do, you ask? It activates that pretty little collar you’ve got around your neck, sending a shot of electricity throughout your entire body.” He chuckled. “Painful, isn’t it. But not as painful as it could be, remember that.”</p><p>Levi grunted, sitting straighter in his chair. <em>Electricity? Was that energy?</em> He vaguely remembered Hange rambling about potential energy and invisible electricity from the books they found after they overthrew the king. Was this what it felt like?</p><p>The General paused as if waiting to see what Levi would choose. Levi glared, but kept his mouth firmly shut. He’d bide his time.</p><p>“Right, well now that that’s out of the way, you’re probably wondering what happened after that little skirmish in… what was the place called…” He brought out a file and flicked through it. “…Shiganshina, was it?”</p><p>Levi glared.</p><p>“Yes, well, as you’ve mostly likely concluded, you have been acquired as an Akerman specimen by the Marleyan military. You are now the property of Marley.”</p><p>
  <em>Marley? Was that what was across the sea? Braun and Hoover… that monkey… were they all from… Marley?</em>
</p><p>The General then gestured to the Doctor behind him. “Dr Wren will be overseeing your research and I’ll advise you to cooperate. She isn’t as… <em>delicate</em> as I am.”</p><p>Levi refrained from rolling his eyes.</p><p>The General then smiled and nodded back to the Doctor as he passed her that little… <em>remote</em>, before exiting the room, closing the door with a sharp metallic slam.</p><p>Levi was left alone with the Doctor. They stared at each other for a long moment, her cold eyes narrowed and calculating, as if every twitch in Levi’s movements was something she could record. Presently, she turned and moved towards a little desk Levi hadn’t noticed before, just within his eye-line. Her high-heeled shoes clipping on the stone floor. She placed her file down on the table in front of her as she gracefully slid down into her seat.</p><p>Neither of the said anything.</p><p>Levi clenched his fingers as she delicately flicked through her file. He tried to get his thoughts ordered inside his head.</p><p>
  <em>1: I was captured</em>
</p><p>
  <em>2: I am in Marley</em>
</p><p>
  <em>3: It is unclear whether anyone else is alive</em>
</p><p>No. Erwin is alive. He’s sure of it. Levi would know if Erwin was dead. He’d know it… Okay, so…</p><p>
  <strike> <em>3: It is unclear whether anyone else is alive</em> </strike>
</p><p>
  <em>3: At least Erwin is alive</em>
</p><p>
  <em>4: And Eren</em>
</p><p>Yes, that’s true too. If Eren was dead then Marley would have their freaky founding titan power… or what ever that meant. So, yes, Eren had to be alive.</p><p>
  <em>5: They are going to torture me</em>
</p><p>That much was certain. But torture for what? Obviously it had something to do with because he was an Akerman. But what did that mean? What was so special about the Akerman?</p><p>
  <em>6: I have to hold out for six months</em>
</p><p>Yes. Six months. That’s what Erwin had always said right. If someone got captured, he'd come for them within six months. That what he promised everyone. If there was a slightest bit of humanity left in the man, Levi knew, he would never break his promises.</p><p>
  <em>Six months…</em>
</p><p>“Well, then.” Doctor Wren finally said, looking up from her file and shattering the few moments of agonising silence. Her voice had the same condescending attitude of a demonic head mistress. “Shall we begin?”</p><p>Her finger pressed the button and Levi’s world went white.</p><p>He clenched his teeth through the pain, determined not to scream.</p><p>
  <em>Six months…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Six months…</em>
</p><p>He repeated it over and over in his head as uncontrollable tears began to form in his eyes.</p><p>
  <em>Six months…</em>
</p>
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